Hell & Beyond I
by Much
Summary: What happened after Nigel Crane was arrested at Nick’s place?
1. Part 1

New Fic: Hell And Beyond I (1/2) Post-Stalker fic  
  
Title: Hell And Beyond I (1/2)  
  
Author: Vanessa Hemrika  
  
E-Mail address: v.hemrika@planet.nl  
  
Rating: PG (possibly R for language in the sequel)  
  
Category: S  
  
Spoilers: Stalker  
  
Summary: What happened after Nigel Crane was arrested at Nick's place?  
  
Disclaimer - CSI and its characters belong to Anthony Zuiker and CBS Broadcasting Company. This story was not written for any type of economical gain, but purely for the joy of it.  
  
Author's note: My thanks go to April Rickey who acted as my beta for this story.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- Hell and Beyond I  
  
"How do I want this to end? I want you to be able to remember my name." The words had barely left Nigel Cranes mouth when he placed the barrel of the gun beneath his chin. Nick did not hesitate as he launched himself at the man, his desperate cry echoing off the walls. He got hold of Nigels hands and pulled them away from his face. Tears clouded his eyes as they struggled. "This isn't happening", Nicks tired mind kept screaming at him.  
  
Then his world exploded around him. Twice, in rapid succession, Crane fired the gun he still had in his hands. Nick screamed as the shock of the shots traveled through his hands and into his injured wrist. Some part of him felt faint surprise when he realized that he had not heard the shots, that they had been overshadowed by the sound of a battering ram pounding against the door. The door splintered behind him and shouts filled the room. Two uniformed cops tore Crane from Nick's grasp and threw him to the floor as Nick scrambled back until the wall behind him stopped him. Panting for breath he watched as Crane's hands were cuffed behind his back and he wanted to laugh hysterically. It was over. Hugging himself he bit back the tears threatening to spill.  
  
Jim Brass cautiously approached him, searching his face for Nick knew not what. But apparently he found what he was looking for and moved forward, clasping his hand behind Nick's neck.  
  
"Nick, it's done. Okay?" He said in a gruff voice and Nick nodded through his shock.  
  
"Yeah." He managed.  
  
Brass smiled at him before pulling him into a tight embrace to pat his back in an oddly comforting gesture. Just as quickly he was released and Brass guided him out of the living room into the kitchen where he made Nick sit on a chair. Taking his cell phone from his pocket he hit speed dial as his other hand poured Nick a glass of water. Over the counter he could see the two Policemen as they secured Crane. Then the phone was picked up on the other end of the line.  
  
"Grissom."  
  
"Gil, it's Brass. We got him."  
  
"Oh, thank God! How's Nick?"  
  
"Pretty shaken, but okay as far as I can tell. I'm taking him to the ER to make sure."  
  
"Can I talk to him?"  
  
"If he can hold onto the phone, yes." Brass said with a look at Nick who slumped on the kitchen chair like all his strength had run out. He raised his head when Brass knelt down in front of him and held out the phone to him, "Think you can hold this without dropping it?"  
  
Nick actually managed a shaky smile at the humor in Brass' tone and he nodded.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Grissom. He wants to talk to you."  
  
"Okay." Nick nodded and he took the cell phone. He placed it against his ear.  
  
"Nick, are you there?" Grissoms voice sounded anxious and it brought a fresh lump to Nick's throat. He had to swallow hard to be able to speak. "Nick, talk to me, please!"  
  
"Yeah, I.I'm here." "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"  
  
"N.no, he didn't. I'm okay." Nick paused for a moment, "Grissom, he killed the psychic."  
  
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line and then Grissom was back, his voice his normal self.  
  
"Brass is taking you to the ER for a check up."  
  
"No, I'm fine." Nick protested.  
  
"Nick, that's an order. You're not fine until a doctor says you are. Is that understood?"  
  
"Yeah." Nick answered reluctantly. Suddenly a new thought made itself known, "Gris, my place.It's."  
  
"A crime scene, I know. We're dealing with it ourselves. Is that okay with you, Nick?" Grissom's tone of voice was oddly gentle.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. God, this sucks.!" Nick answered. He could almost hear Grissom's sad smile on the other side.  
  
"I know, Nicky. But you'll make it. You have to believe me."  
  
"I'm trying, man. I'll see you guys later?"  
  
"We're right here waiting for you, Nick."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Nick closed the connection and wordlessly handed the phone back to Brass. He felt himself stiffen involuntarily when over Brass' head he saw the two policemen in his living room push Nigel Crane to the door. For just a moment their eyes met. Nick felt the cold hand of fear around his heart as Crane smiled at him and very slowly and deliberately licked his lips. Then he was gone.  
  
Suddenly cold to the core of his being Nick hugged himself and he could feel himself begin to shake again. Brass saw it too and he squatted down in front of him, lightly placing his hand on Nicks knee.  
  
"Nick, he is gone now. He cannot hurt you anymore." He said gently and Nick managed a nod of his head.  
  
"I know." He said and he ran a wary hand over his face. Between his shock and his exhaustion he found that he couldn't think straight and when Brass spoke again he knew that the policeman had picked up on it too.  
  
"I think it's time we got you out of here. Sound good?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
He allowed Brass to pull him to his feet and didn't protest when the older man shoved his shoulder underneath Nick's to steady him. Nick very much doubted he could have made it out of the door and to the car on his own, not when his knees were shaking badly enough to render them almost useless. He groaned when the motion of getting into the passenger seat jarred his cracked ribs.  
  
"Sorry." Brass apologized and Nick smiled slightly.  
  
"It's okay." He said. He felt faint surprise when his teeth chattered with cold. Brass left him and returned only moments later with a checkered blanket that he wrapped around Nicks shaking body, before strapping him in. The door was closed and Brass walked around the SUV to get behind the wheel. Starting the engine he pulled away from the curb and Nick found himself looking back at his place with a weird kind of detachment. Come to think of it, he still had a hard time believing that this was all happening to him. It had to be the exhaustion and the Vicodin talking. 


	2. Part 2

Title: Hell And Beyond I (2/2)  
  
Author: Vanessa Hemrika  
  
E-Mail address: v.hemrika@planet.nl  
  
Rating: PG (possibly R for language in the sequel)  
  
Category: S  
  
Spoilers: Stalker  
  
Summary: What happened after Nigel Crane was arrested at Nick's place?  
  
Disclaimer - CSI and its characters belong to Anthony Zuiker and CBS Broadcasting Company. This story was not written for any type of economical gain, but purely for the joy of it.  
  
Author's note: My thanks go to April Rickey who acted as my beta for this story. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- The ride to the ER was surreal to say the least. In the midst of the streetlights blurring past as they drove, Nick remembered the leering face of Nigel Crane as he told him how he'd picked up Nick's clothes at the dry cleaners and how he'd watched him sleep.  
  
He still felt wrung out and cold and he hurt. His ribs burned like wild fire, regardless of the pain pill he had popped just before Maurice Pearson had shown up and all hell had broken lose. The pill hadn't done anything for his sprained wrist either. He startled violently when Brass reached out a hand to gently shake him.  
  
"Sorry, Nick. I didn't mean to spook you." Brass offered.  
  
"Doesn't matter." Nick said and he looked out the window at the unfamiliar parking lot surrounding him. At one end a neon sign said "Hospital" in green.  
  
"We're at the hospital." Brass said needlessly when he opened the passenger door,  
  
"Can you make it inside by yourself or do you need wheels?"  
  
"I'll be okay." Nick said as he unstrapped himself and got out of the car. Brass took him by the arm and steered him toward the entrance of the ER.  
  
***  
  
Half an hour later Brass and Nick were in the car again, headed for CSI headquarters.  
  
The same doctor who had treated Nick right after his plunge had taken a look at him now and had declared that he was in pretty much the same shape as he had been when he had left the hospital before. She had given him a shot of something he didn't recognize and had send him on his way with stern orders to really rest this time. Nick had just nodded. At least whatever had been in that shot made him feel better, less beat.  
  
He tensed when the building that housed the CSI labs came into view. Behind it the sky slowly turned from pitch black and a million stars to a soft pinkish color. Dawn was coming. The night was past.  
  
Nick wished the same thing could be said of this damn mess, but in his heart he knew it hadn't even started yet. The worst was still to come.  
  
Inside the building he quickly wished he had not come here. Word of what had happened had gone around and nearly every person he came across on his way up to the labs looked at him funny. It made him feel like some kind of freak. He didn't like it. It felt like he was being stalked all over again.  
  
At the floor that housed the CSI labs, the members of the day shift greeted him with cautious friendliness. Even Eckly gave him a nod of his head that held more compassion than he had ever before seen in the guy. Amazing what getting victimized did for you.  
  
Then he found himself in front of the door to the break room and he hesitated. All of a sudden he felt the urge to run and hide in some deep and dark hole. Brass, still at his elbow, picked up on it.  
  
"You okay, Nick?" He said and Nick managed a smile over his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Go on in, Nick. They're waiting for you."  
  
"You're not coming?"  
  
"No, I have to question." Brass let his voice trail off, not sure if he should say the perverts name out loud in front of Nick. Nick's answer took him by surprise.  
  
"Crane. Go get him, Jim." The cold glare that accompanied Nick's words traveled all the way to Brass' toes.  
  
Inside the break room three pairs of eyes turned to him the moment Nick stepped through the door. Three, not four. Nick felt faint disappointment.  
  
Catherine was the first on her feet. She came over to him and wrapped him up in a careful embrace.  
  
"It is so good to have you back, Nicky." She whispered and there was a slight catch in her voice. She looked tired.  
  
"It's good to be back, Cath. Thanks." Nick whispered back and she released him with a shaky smile.  
  
Next up was Warrick.  
  
"Hey, man, are you okay?" He asked as he placed his hand on Nicks shoulder. He still wore that guilty look Nick had first noticed after waking up in hospital after his plunge. It was something they would have to talk about.  
  
"No, but I will be." Nick nodded with a tight smile.  
  
"Look, Nick, if you need some place to crash for a couple of days, I have a spare bedroom. It's yours if you want it."  
  
"Thanks, man. I'll let you know." Nick answered with a sudden sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Nigel's 'alterations' made him homeless for at least the duration of the investigation. His place would be handed back to him as soon as the case was officially closed, which probably wouldn't be for a couple of days yet. As far as Nick was concerned they could take the rest of the year. He did not know if he wanted that house back, not after what had happened. He would have to give it a lot of thought.  
  
Then Sara distracted him from his gloomy thoughts by lightly kissing his cheek and that was that. An uncomfortable silence passed between them.  
  
"Where's Grissom?" Nick asked after a couple of long moments and Warrick hooked his thumb over his right shoulder.  
  
"Tank. Crane is being questioned."  
  
"They should be done soon." Catherine said, "Why don't you sit down, Nick?"  
  
"Yeah, man. You look like you're about to fall over."  
  
"Thanks, but I'm okay. Really." Nick said, but he did as they wanted anyway, not feeling quite as okay as he had told them. With the shock wearing off he was left with just his exhaustion. The painkiller he had received at the hospital did nothing to help with that.  
  
For the next ten minutes or so they talked about any topic that had no connection at all to the case until the door opening claimed their attention. Grissom entered with Brass close on his heels. Grissom smiled at Nick.  
  
"How are you doing, Nicky?" He asked in a gentle voice.  
  
"Better." Nick smiled in return.  
  
"You're done?" Catherine asked and Grissom nodded.  
  
"Yes. For the moment."  
  
"What did he say?" Nick demanded and Grissom looked back at him, holding his gaze with his own.  
  
"Not much. He's reciting a mantra of sorts over and over again. He's breaking down."  
  
"Yeah, I don't think he heard any of the questions we fired at him." Brass said and he sounded disgusted and frustrated at the same time.  
  
"Is he still there?" Nick asked.  
  
"Yes, we hoping to question him again later on. Why, Nick?"  
  
"I wanna see him."  
  
"Nicky, are you sure about that? I mean." Catherine piped up, her face a mask of worry. Nick smiled sadly at her.  
  
"Yes, I'm sure, Cath. I still don't understand any of this. Maybe seeing him will help."  
  
"Okay, if you're sure you're up to it." Grissom said and he sounded strangely reluctant. Nick ignored that and got up.  
  
*** "I am one and who am I?" Those were the only words tumbling from the lips of Nigel Crane as he sat at the table. Brass and Grissom had said that it was the only thing he had said since he had been arrested at Nicks condo.  
  
Nick stood in front of the one-way mirror, looking at the man who had and still was influencing his life in a major way. He looked.so normal, and yet Nick shivered when Nigel lifted his head to fix his empty eyes on the glass screen. His gaze held no feelings at all. It was like looking at a puppet. It made Nick feel sick.  
  
"Why me?" He asked out loud, not really expecting an answer. But Grissom, seated on the edge of the table behind him answered anyway.  
  
"I don't think it was about you, Nick, or Jane Galloway for that matter. I think it was more about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. His premise is that social beings strive to belong. In Nigel's mind, Jane Galloway was someone he could control, which was okay for a while, but you...you were someone he could actually become. See, Maslow's fifth tier of the hierarchy is self- actualization. The problem for Nigel is that you would have to die in order for that to happen, or else he would."  
  
Nick listened, not convinced at all that what Grissom told him was the truth in this case. It didn't matter that Grissom's theory might work in other stalking cases, because he had not been there when Nigel had jumped down from the attic into his living room. He had not been faced with a person who fervently believed in his fantasy, to the point where he could no longer distinguish between Nick's life and his own sorry excuse for one. Wearing Nick's clothes had only been one sign of that.  
  
"Twenty-five years to life, Nick. It's over." Sara said from where she sat on the table behind Nick, but Nick shook his head.  
  
"It's not over for me. It's over for Jane Galloway." He said morosely and he saw Sara bow her head in the reflection on the mirror. The silence that followed his words felt uncomfortable, with only Nigel's soft spoken mantra disturbing it.  
  
"We should get back to the lab." Catherine said and she got up with a deep sigh. In passing him she softly squeezed Nicks shoulder and he smiled at her in thanks.  
  
Nick did not move as behind him his co-workers filed out of the room. His eyes remained fixed on the figure on the other side of the glass, in a morbid kind of fascination, as Crane moved toward the glass, hands outstretched, as if he could see Nick staring back at him. The police man by the door moved forward to stop Nigel from touching the mirror and he led him back to the chair he had vacated only moments earlier.  
  
Nick could not tear his eyes away from his stalker. Desperately he wanted to understand the reasons behind Nigel Crane's actions, but he knew the answer would not be coming from the man himself.  
  
Nick had meant every word he had said to Sara. It was the truth after all. Jane's suffering had ended the minute Nigel had decided to kill her. She no longer had to be afraid every minute of the day, did not have to deal with the peepholes and all the other evidence in her house.  
  
For him the extent of the damage to his house and his life would become clearer and clearer over the next couple of days. It would not be easy, Nick knew, but he also knew that he could count on Grissom, Catherine, Warrick and Sara. Somehow with their help he would make it through this. He had to.  
  
The End 


End file.
